A husband and his estranged wife were killed when he tied her to railway tracks and jumped in front of a 200mph train on her birthday, police said.

Officers in Beauvilliers, northern France, claim the mum-of-four, identified by French media as Emilie Hallouin, 34, was secured by her wrists and ankles using polythene tape. The remains of her husband Guillaume Gremy, 37, were scattered along the stretch of railway and not tied down, according to officers. The couple were hit by a high-speed TGV train travelling at 200mph.

Ms Hallouin reportedly turned 34 on the day she died. A Beauvilliers police spokesman said Mr Gremy had: “been suffering from serious and long-term depression.” The couple, who were separated, had a 15-month-old baby. Gremy had two children, aged ten and eight, from a previous relationship and Ms Hallouin had a ten-year-old, also from a previous relationship.